BTCC 2017: Round Nine race report

Silverstone | 16-17 September

Matt Neal lit up the
ninth round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone, with
the three-time title-holder storming through the pack from 12th on
the grid to rack up his 61st career triumph in the third race of the
day.

In the first race,
Neal emerged unscathed from a multi-car scrap for fourth, but contact with Mat
Jackson saw him slip outside of the top ten. Even so, he went on to cross the
finish line 13th, two places behind Shedden.

In race two, Shedden
went on the offensive. The defending champion posted the fastest lap on his way
to seventh. His teammate, meanwhile, struggled for pace on his harder-compound
tyres and had to recover from a wild slide on the opener to make up seven places
and finish 13th.

But there would be no
stopping the Midlander in the finale, when Neal proved the potential of the
Civic Type R by picking off his rivals one-by-one. By lap 16, he was up into
second, and after shadowing Rob Huff for five laps, his sustained pressure paid
off and he secured the victory.

“Our car is really
strong through the quick stuff, so I knew where I had to attack [Rob Huff], but
after trying it two or three times, he seemed to have it covered,” Neal said.
“Then he ran about half-a-metre wide and I got my nose up the inside and
thought, ‘gotcha!’”

The win is Neal’s second
of 2017.

There was less joy for
Shedden, who in the final race found himself unceremoniously dumped out of
contention by Rob Austin while in the mix for a podium finish. “It was like
bumper cars out there, with some crazy moves being pulled,” he said. “Although
I’m mathematically still just in the title fight, realistically it’s not going
to happen this year. But that won’t stop me from pushing flat-out at Brands
Hatch to finish the season on a high!”

The season finale will
take place at Brands Hatch from 30 September to 1 October, and there’s an
outside chance Flash could retain his hard-fought Drivers’ crown.